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0. son/ ERE REVERSIBLE WEIR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 1918.

1,853,285. PatenteQSept. 21,1920.

Flal Fig-2- more srarss PATENT-am OTTO SOMMER, or ZURICH, SWITZERLAND,Assienoza To 7 SWITZERLAND.

REVERSIBLE WEIR.

Application filed May 4-.,

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that 1,} OTTO SoMMER, a

citizen of the Republic 'of Switzerland, re-

I clear, and exact description of the invention,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and toletters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a partof this specification.

My invention relates to storage welrs having a dam of the automaticallyoperated pivoted type, said dam being turned on 1ts pivot to lower thelevel of the up-stream water or dominant pool by the counterpressure ofa head ofwater on the downstream side of the pivoted dam at a pointbelow the pivot line thereof.

The lowering and the righting of the dam is done in a purely automaticmanner wlthout the manual operation of any valves, gates or pumpswhatever, and is solely controlled by the difierences in hydraulic headdue to the changes of the dominant pool or l p-stream water. 7 I r Insome present constructions when the pivoted dam is lowered the pressure1n a pressure chamber on the up-stream side of the dam below its pivotis lowered by pumping or siphoning the water from 1t so that thepressure on the lower part of the pivoted dam becomes less than thatonthe upper part. The ceiling or top wall of such a pressure chambermust have a proportion corresponding to the depth of the upstream waterto sustain the load, and for large dams this creates difiiculties inconstruction which are sometimes unsurmountable.

' parts are similarly designated- Figure l is a cross-sectional view ofone form of dam embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of thesame, partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a section, and

1918. Serial No. 232,494.

,STA'UWERKE' A.-G,, or ZURICH,

Specification of Letters Patent; -Pafgnted Se t 21 4:

Fig. 4 is elevation showing amodification, and l Figs; 5 and 6 are,respectively, a section and elevation of a further modification.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the'damha's an upper wing Z) and a lowerwing. f, and 1s pivoted at Z on the down-stream side. The lower wingmoves, when the dam crest is loweredas in'the dotted line position,-

in a pressure chamber a that has free communication with the upstreamwater.

On the down-stream side of the dam is a counter-pressure chamber 0 thepressure in Y which acts in oppositionto" the pressure in pressurechamber a on the lower leaf 7 of g the dam.

' The 7 pressure in the counter-pressure chamber '6 is assisted inturning the crest down by pressure of the up-stream water in theopposite direction on the upper wingv b above the pivotline 1 Thechamber ecommunicates by a fiume 71 with the up-streamwater, theentrance to which is controlled by a vertically slid able gate orshutter 2'. When the water in the ClOIIllIlZLIlt .pool rises above theupper edge of the shutteri it overflows into fiume h and chamber 6.Usually theupper edge of the gate 1' is adjusted at a level somewhatabove the crest of the dam, to allow a normal flow over the crest. Y

If the up-stream water makes only; a

slight rise over the top offthe shutter i a small amount of water onlywill enter cham her 6 through flume hand pass off through the trickleslots 9, but at flood stage an abnormal rise will take place, flume hand chamber 0 will be filled with water and the supply of water will begreater than that passing through the trickle slots 9 sure on upper wing.b will turn the dam on its pivots Z and lower its crest-to allow amaximum flow to pass overthe dam. At

the same time the lower' leaf f of the dam moves through chamber a andforms a ceiling or top to this chamber so that the increased inertia ofthe water nowalso mov ing over the leaf 7 onto the leaf 6 will notproduce pressure on the lower leaf 7" that will overcome the pressure inchamber 6.

On the other hand, if for any reason the dam crest is to be lowered whenthe upstream water is at normal level, then the gate 2' is loweredsuliicient to fill flume h and counter-pressure chamber e.'

' WVhen the level of the up-stream water has receded and the quantity ofwater passing the overflow 70 becomes equal to that passing the trickleslots, the dam remains motionless, and, when the water level of theup-stream Water has reached its normal level again, the damautomatically rights itself.

The pressure chamber a maybe built with a top or ceiling (Z, Fig. :3,provided that com munication of the water in chamber a 'be maintainedthrough suitable openings with the up-stream water. i

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown a siphon m connected with the flume h forsupplying the counter-pressure chamber 6. This al lows greater latitudebetween the low water level at the crest of the dam and the level atwhich thesiphon begins to operate.

For example, when the mouth of the siphon is slightly below the crest ofthe dam,

the dam will remain down until the siphon is broken by theadmission ofair thereto.

he water may be admitted to the siphon over a shutter 11 as-in Figs. 1and 2. It

will thus be seen that in all the structures shown the pressure in thecounter-chamber 6 will counterbalance water pressure on the lower leaf fof the gate and permit the gate to tilt on pivot Z.

Upon a slight variation of level over the crest of the dam, water entersthe siphon and overflows therethrough without filling the siphon andcausing it to operate as such.

By raising the .gate-t' the level of overflow through the siphon willalso be regulated as well as the depth on the dam crest. Such water willbe carried oil through the trickle slots 9. The gate i can be raised tosuch a height that the overflow level over the top of the gate will beabove the top of I the siphonand yet the. siphon will not fill.

On the other hand, if the top of the gate be positioned at any pointbelow the top of fthe siphon, then upon a rise of water sufficient tofill the siphon, the siphon will continue to discharge water to thecounterpressure chamber should the dam open, un-

When the r til the level of the lip-stream water has diminishedsuflicient to vent air into the siphon and break it. The dam will thenbe righted, and any continued flow overthe gated into the siphon willsimply be overflow therethrough, wi'thout "filling the siphon, asbefore. ,II" the gate 2' is raised above the top of thesiphon then thegate 6 acts as a valve to cut oil the supply of water thereto at'thehigher level.

I claim: '1. A storage dam comprising a pivoted damming element having acrest portion above the pivot line and a pressure portion below thepivot line, a pressure chamber on the up-stream side of said pressureportion at all times under the pressure of the head on the upstream sideof said element, a counter pressure chamber on the downstream sideof'said pressure portion and means to automatically supply water, underthe head of the upstream Water, to said counter pressure chamber at thehigh water level of the upstream water at which the dam is intended tooperate.

2. A storage dam. comprising a pivoted damming element having a crestportion above the pivot line and a pressure portion below the pivotline, a pressure chamber on the Lip-stream side of said pressure portionat all times under the pressure of the head on the up-stream-side ofsaid element, a counter pressure chamber on the down-stream side of saidpressure portion and means to automatically supply water under-the headof the upstream water to said counter pressure chamber at the high waterlevel of the upstream Water at which the dam is intended to operate, andadditional means to admit up-stream water to said counter pressurechamber at any level of the up-stream water to operate the dam whendesired.

3. A storage weir comprising a pivoted damming element having crest andpressure portionsextending in substantially the same plane, a pressurechamber to receive said pressure portion on the up-stream side of on theupstream side of the damming element communicating with thecounter-pressure chamber. I p r In testimony that I claim the foregoing.as my invention, I have signed my name.

i OTTO SOMMER.

